After Dawn Series  Jill
by FriendlyMushroom
Summary: Jill and Haar had been together for many years already, and still are nothing but business partners for Talrega's delivery service and currently working for Duke Tanas. That is of course, until Jill begins to understand Haar's love for sleeping.


**There will be no summary, all you need to know to enjoy this story is:**

**YOU NEED TO READ MY PROFILE'S FIRE EMBLEM SECTION.**

**I don't own Fire Emblem.**

**EDITED BY SENTINEL07!**

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><p><strong>After Dawn Series – Jill.<strong>

**Chapter One: There is Always Time for a Nap.**

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><p>"Haar! Hey, Haar! Wake up already! I'm talking to you!" Jill knew she was dreaming. What other explanation was there left for her to witness herself, being only an eight years old young child, as she tried to wake up a lazy 25 years old Haar. As he slept peacefully, with his head against his wyvern's belly, he was being lulled into dream land with each breathe the creature took while it snored peacefully. Back then, Haar still had both of his eyes unharmed. So there really wasn't any other explanation but Jill being dreaming about her past. "Wake up! You are supposed to be on guard duty!" She complained over and over again while shaking Haar's body trying to win a reaction from his part, but ended with Haar picking her up and hugging her as if she were a pillow. "No! Haar! Stop it!" She complained. The girl was more embarrassed than anything; she hated it how Haar could force her into feeling so useless. She couldn't even wake him up from his sleep, and the girl had a strong voice, enough for Haar's wyvern to start complaining because of her constant yelling.<p>

"I told you never to bother me during my sleep you brat." Haar added, forcing Jill into the floor and then resting his head on top of her, which the girl tried to fight away from her. She truly hated Haar so much, even when she was always trying to find a way to be near him. She just couldn't understand the reasons. But now that Jill was a 21 years of age young woman, about to turn 22, she realized, that even when she was only eight years old back then, she loved to spend some time with Haar. "There is always time for a nap Jill, and when you learn to understand that, you will find true happiness."

"That's only an excuse for you not to work! You promised you were going to teach me how to hunt a sub-human! You even promised me you would craft the teeth of a tiger sub-human to a lance for me!" And after kicking and punching and some grass pulling, Jill finally managed to force her way out from below Haar's heavy head, and then kicked his head hard in annoyance. This hurt Haar a little, but he was too lazy as to care enough about it. "Why do you like sleeping so much anyway?" She demanded an answer. There was really no way someone could enjoy sleeping that much, but then again, she just had no idea. "Sleeping is no fun at all!"

"No fun at all?" He wondered, his eyes wide open as if trying to understand Jill's words as if she was totally wrong. Yet, he knew Jill just couldn't understand what fun he saw on sleeping. "Tell me Jill, when there is just nothing to do, what do you like the most? Staying awake and waiting for something to happen? Or perhaps enjoy a good nap, and see what your mind has in store for you?" He asked, and Jill crossed her arms in annoyance.

"I wouldn't call sleeping during patrol duty to mean you have nothing better to do!" She complained, and Haar rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You don't just sleep when you got nothing better to do, you sleep on patrol duty! You sleep on my father's meetings! You once even fell asleep during a sub-human attack to Talrega!" And Jill got Haar's snoring as her only reply to her accusations, and so she leaned down, filled her lungs with air, and yelled harder than ever in her whole life against his ears. "And you are freaking sleeping while I'm talking to you!" And then, not only did Haar woke up, but his wyvern flew away scared after thinking a bigger wyvern was about to have him as his breakfast.

"For the love of a good nap, there is no resting whenever you are close you brat." He complained once again, and Jill just gave her back to him, being awfully annoyed with Haar's behavior. He was supposed to be an adult, and an example for her to follow, and yet, he was just being a total pain. "…Jill…" He tried to call her, but the girl was too annoyed as to pay any attention to him anymore. "Don't give me that, Jill, come back here." He said once seeing the girl walking away from him. "I'm serious, Jill, it's dangerous!" There was panic in his voice, but Jill didn't care enough to notice, not until seeing a white tiger laguz staring at her from the insides of the deep forest in front of her. Opening its yellow eyes wide moments before launching itself toward the girl, she then saw it all in slow motion. Haar jumped in with his ax in hand, and the tiger laguz slashed his face with its deadly looking claws. Then she heard the yell of pain from her friend, as his eye was cut off from his face because of one of her stubborn moves. Even now, Jill knew it was her fault, and she just couldn't forgive herself.

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><p>"Ah!" Jill yelled hard once waking up from her nightmare, and then heard a second yell from a man who had been asleep by her lap the whole time she had been asleep, back then everything was confusion. She was yelling, Haar was yelling, and both of their wyverns where flying away scared after the yells. "I'm back to being 21 years old!" She added after touching her face, and noticing she was her current age.<p>

"It's called dreaming, Jill." Haar replied after recovering from the scare. "And for the love of a good nap, never wake me up like that ever again; I'm 38 Jill, too many emotions for my taste." And Haar then lay down, once again trying to win some sleep. "Seriously… there is never a moment of rest whenever you are around…" He finished, and Jill did nothing for a while but stare at his patched eye, remembering it was her fault he had lost that eye. "Whatever made you scream like that woman." He asked, and Jill did nothing but move her head in negation several times trying to scare the thoughts away.

"That's not important." She replied. "At any rate, what were you doing sleeping on top of my legs?" She questioned, Haar even rested his head on top of her knees once again, forcing Jill's eyebrow to tickle her in annoyance to Haar's actions. "I'm waiting." She continued.

"What? You were sleeping so peacefully that I thought I would just join you in your sleep." He finished and then closed his eye, only to find Jill lifting her knee fast in annoyance, and as consequence, hitting Haar hard at the back of his head. "Seriously woman!"

"No, you listen to me! I'm not like you! I do take my duty seriously!" She added with anger evident in the tone of her voice. She then walked toward her wyvern, calling her down and then tying some cargo boxes at the back of the wyvern as part of the delivery service Haar and herself had opened in order to retire from a life of battles and war. "They are waiting for these armors back at Begnion. According to Duke Tanas in his letter, it is very important these armors get delivered to him in the name of the senate immediately."

"Why in the world would the Duke want these many black armors anyway?" Haar wondered. This was perhaps the eleventh trip they made toward Begnion with the same cargo. He knew his men, those who survived the days during the Mad King's war and where loyal to Jill and Haar because of General Shiharam, had made at least twice as much trips as they both have, mostly because Haar always flew down to have some sleep. "Micaiah ordered her army to paint their armors red as a movement against King Ashnard's mad ruling once she claimed the throne, and yet the senate asks for her to send any black armor left to Begnion, the colors of Begnion are white and pink. I don't see where black fit in all this."

"It is Duke Tanas the one we are talking about, so perhaps he saw some creepy beauty in these armors as he sees beauty in himself and he is just trying to save a piece of art from being awfully destroyed when painted red." She explained. But even after such explanation, Haar wasn't convinced in the less. "Quit winning already and get your butt on top of your wyvern, the Duke is paying us handsomely for these armors, we shouldn't even be complaining about his weird ideas." She explained and climbed her wyvern. "Aren't you coming?"

"Don't be so pushy woman, at least let me enjoy my nap for five more minutes." He added and then rested his back against a tree, being ready to fall asleep, only Jill wasn't going to wait for him any longer. She asked her wyvern to fly away, and with a furious swing of her beast's wings, Haar was launched away and ended rolling around for a few seconds. "Seriously, one day you will understand the pleasure of a good sleep, and whenever you do, I will be there to wake you up." But Jill couldn't hear his complaints, as she was several miles away. After all, her wyvern was a fast one. "Hey, Jill! Wait for me!" And forgetting about his nap, Haar jumped on top of his wyvern. Fortunately for him, his wyvern still had the cargo tied to his back, since Haar was even too lazy as to untie the cargo while saying what good was there on untying it when he would end up tying it once again anyway.

"For Ashunera's sake, everything he thinks about is sleeping! I wouldn't complain this much if he placed more attention to me than his damn naps." She then cursed between lips, but quickly calmed down and asked her wyvern to continue her flight toward Begnion, towards a place she knew well. Duke Oliver's villa by Serene's Forest, where she knew the Duke was waiting for his newest cargo to arrive. "Just a little longer sweetheart, we are almost there."

"Aw, I knew you cared about me." Haar joked, and Jill felt her face flushing with the idea, but was glad that at least, while Haar was flying, he had enough energy to joke or to fight whenever it was needed. "But don't you think calling me sweetheart is odd, compared to you, I'm a living fossil?"

"I wasn't talking to you! I was talking to my wyvern!" And she got Haar's laughter as her only reply as he commanded his wyvern to fly down and toward the villa now visible at the distance. "Seriously, sometimes I'm worried about his brain working as it should." But then a beautiful smile adorned Jill's lips. She loved this side of Haar; sort of funny, in his own peculiar way, even when most of the time he was as emotionless as a stone, something he and Ike shared in common. "Haar! Wait for me!" She yelled hard, and then ordered her wyvern down and raced Haar to the villa's green fields.

Duke Tanas was already waiting out there for his cargo to be delivered, and was awfully delighted when seeing the two wyvern lords racing to meet with him. But, as it always happened whenever Haar and Jill paid Duke Tanas a visit, the fatso ended being pushed away by the strong winds the two beasts produced each time they landed after racing toward the ground.

"For the love of everything that is beautiful! I know I asked for an express delivery, but don't you two brutes think perhaps this was going too far? I could have hurt my beautiful face!" The Duke complained while being helped up by two of his men, even his servants were always handsome looking or beautiful if speaking about his maids, which for Haar's men, was an excuse for them to stay longer at the Duke's territories.

"Oliver, what a surprise it is to see you greeting us." Jill added calmly. She wasn't actually looking forward to seeing the Duke, as the only reason she had for flying all the way from Daein to Begnion was because the Duke was awfully rich, and he paid them handsomely for the delivery of these black armors.

"I am flattered." The Duke admitted, he even blushed a little at his own words. "To know you are this amazed by my beauty, that you dreamed about me day and night for the day of you being blessed enough by Ashunera as to see me, it is a thought that warms my golden heart." And Jill didn't know what to say, she actually backed off in fear.

"I will never get tired of saying this to you, Duke Tanas." Haar added, a smile forever drawn on his face. "But you are not beautiful, and as I keep telling you every time you try to show off about that beauty you don't have, I would rather cut my other eye off, than seeing you straight to the eyes." And the Duke crossed his arms in annoyance, turned around, and began walking away.

"You just don't understand true beauty!" The Duke added in annoyance, forgetting entirely about paying the two wyvern lords after the long trip from Daein to Begnion, which angered Jill since Haar had once again scared their best client away. This eventually led to her trying to convince Duke Tanas into asking for their services more often.

"But please, Duke Tanas, pay no mind to Sir Haar. He only got an eye, and between you and me, I'm sure it doesn't work properly." And Haar just rolled his only eye while climbing his wyvern down and untying the cargo boxes away from the wyvern's back, who fell to the ground after being released from the horrible weight. It was pleased for finally being able to feel his now sore muscles after Haar had forced him to carry the cargo all the way from Daein to Begnion with no rest at all.

"That's right buddy, you deserve a good sleep, and after I get mine, I will give you a great bath by the river, and you know how you like Serene's water." And the wyvern waved his tail happily. "How much for spending the night at your villa, Duke Tanas?"

"Same as usual I suppose." Interrupted Jill. "We get the cargo ready at the main hall, and in exchange the dinner is on the Duke's account as well as a place to sleep." Jill added calmly, and the Duke nodded after her words. "You heard the man, now get those armors into the main hall while the Duke and I speak about our payment."

"On my own?" Haar complained. Jill just ignored him. This was his punishment for always falling asleep, or perhaps an excuse for him to remain awake, there was no way he could know. "Honestly… Shiharam, you owe me a big one for leaving me alone with your daughter. At least when you were alive I could sleep." He complained, and then began pushing the heavy cargo boxes inside the Duke's villa.

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><p>Hours passed by, and Haar and Jill kept building the armors at the main hall, where a huge army of empty black armors rested. After working for so long, they both felt the weight of their own armors and decided to take them off, staying both with only their night tunics to cover their bodies. Jill wearing a one pieced white one, and Haar a full body, two pieces grey tunic. Their clothes were cool, and were enough for them to keep working without major complaints. At least not from Jill, but Haar just kept falling asleep during the job from time to time.<p>

"Hey! Wake up!" She demanded while kicking Haar hard, waking him up as was usual. "We would have already finished if you hadn't fallen asleep so much during the armor building." She explained and returned to finishing the armor she had been building, then opening another cargo box and taking the parts of the armor out of it. "This will take us all night, and the armors being black don't help in the less as, the darker it gets, the harder it is to see if it is the right hand or the left one the one I'm holding."

"Why in the world would the Duke want these many armors anyway?" He asked for what seemed to be the eleventh time in less than an hour, and Jill didn't feel like answering his complaints anymore, but someone else did.

"Daein knows how to craft an armor, that's why." The Duke added while walking his way inside of the room. He was already wearing his pajamas, which meant it was really that late. "Each armor from Daein is beautiful and fear inspiring. They shine in day and night, with the reflection of the sun or the moon. They even have a different shine depending on the time of the day. Sometimes they are grey, sometimes they are black, it all depends of the light." And Haar yawned at his explanation, but Jill was impressed. After all, different from Haar who was born in Begnion, she was from Daein and, despite fighting against Ashnard during the Mad King's War, she loved her country. "Collecting these armors is also my tribute to Yune, since Daein stood by her side against her other half, Ashera. If it weren't because of such war, our goddess wouldn't have resurrected."

"Can a god even die?" Haar added. Jill just hit him with her elbow so he would just shut up. "I was just saying. Still, don't you have enough armors? How many you got here anyway?" Haar asked. The Duke moved his shoulders up and down not even knowing that answer and being lazy enough at the moment as to count them. "I believe you have nearly 500 armors and you are still asking for more, better get yourself a bigger villa."

"I'm afraid the Apostle dislikes it for me to be spending so much gold on art pieces, so this one was the last cargo." And the Duke began walking away after a yawn. "It's enough for today! We all need our beauty rest! Go to sleep you two!"

"Now we are talking! We will go to sleep right away!" Haar added cheerfully, and Jill just directed an odd stare to him. "Let's go Jill, orders are orders, you don't want to disappoint our most valuable client."

"Former client, you heard him. This was the last cargo." And Haar just ignored her; he was too tired as to start a fight with her. He even left his armor by the floor as he walked in search of the rooms section. "Just give me an honest answer Haar, how can you enjoy sleeping so much? You always look tired, sleeping this much can't be healthy."

"There is always time for a nap." Was Haar's reply, and Jill lowered her face when noticing Haar wasn't taking her serious, or so she thought. "Sleeping is when I remember the good times." He admitted, and Jill stared at him with disbelief. "The mind gets old, Jill. The more time passes, the more your mind deteriorates, until you forget important stuff. So that's why I always like to sleep, to live my memories once again, so they never fade and I end up forgetting them." And Jill was left speechless; she couldn't even believe there was such a deep meaning for Haar's mania over naps. "Also, when you were a little girl you were more silent, those are my favorite memories."

"You didn't have to mention that you know? And just when I had a perfect image of you, seriously." She complained, but Haar just yawned and kept walking toward his room by the second floor of Oliver's villa. It wasn't the first time the two wyvern raiders had stayed at this villa to spend the night. They even felt as if they owned the two rooms they had, one across the other. Since Naesala had refused to work for the Duke, Jill and Haar had become Oliver's art hunters, not as effective as Naesala was, but were the only ones willing to work for him.

"Some sleep at last! This is the only moment when you don't complain about me sleeping." Haar added while opening the door toward his room, waiting until Jill arrived to her own next to his. "Sleep well." Was everything he said, but Jill stopped him before he went inside of his room. "Now what?" He added after allowing a deep breathe to escape his lungs.

"…Never mind…" She mentioned. Haar moved his shoulders up and down not giving Jill's actions enough importance, which annoyed her quiet a lot. The door was then closed after Haar made it inside, and Jill just lowered her face and opened the door to her room. "Almost 22 years, and you still treat me as a child. For Ashunera's sake Haar, I'm always by your side. At least you could think about me in a different light than just a business partner." She complained to herself, and then made it inside of her room.

The room was very comfortable. With a marital styled bed and silk blankets, a desk for reading some books from Oliver's huge library, and many candles around the place for anyone to give the room an illumination fit to the person's preferences. The floor was made of wood, and gave away the smell of the forest. Below the bed was a huge red carpet which also surrounded a good part of the wooden made floor, which Jill loved to feel tickling her naked feet. Even if she was harsh and strong minded while wearing the armor, when not, she was just a young woman who enjoyed the pleasures of life as they were presented to her.

By the wall there was a wardrobe, with many clothes she had sometimes tried on, and a mirror. And as usual, she ended staring at her own reflection, wondering over and over again if Haar thought she was beautiful or not. She even thought her ponytail made her look childish, which would be a reason of why Haar never took her seriously, and so she took the band tying her hair off, and released the river of red hair she never showed to anyone.

"Maybe he just doesn't like my tomboyish side." She wondered, and began smiling to her own reflection, and acting all high society like, doing a reverence from time to time, and imagining herself wearing beautiful dresses. "Why only imagining it when I can actually dress like a princess?" She wondered, and then walked toward the wardrobe, taking from out of it a beautiful red dress with orange carvings of flowers all around the skirt. It was probably something the Duke usually forced his maids to wear, or just an addition to his collection of beautiful objects.

She quickly placed the dress on and fixed her hair, even going as far as to brush it to give some kind of silky effect to her forever messy state. The final result was a wonder to her eyes. She really looked like some kind of princess, and yet she felt uncomfortable. This wasn't her style, her father wouldn't even believe it if seeing her wearing a dress. "I was born to be a tomboy." She complained, and then launched herself toward her bed, not even wanting to have to take the dress off. It was silk-made, and the cool sensation was enough for her to want to wear it a little while longer. "But, what if Haar likes high society girls?" She wondered, and hugged her pillow close to her chest, fearing Haar would never ever notice her. "Maybe I should just yell it to him straight in the face. That way he would remain awake while I confess." And after, she yawned hard, and slowly began falling asleep.

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><p>Inside of her dreams, as if it was some kind of joke from destiny, or perhaps Yune or Ashera trying to help Jill into understanding Haar's reasons behind loving his naps so much, Jill saw herself once again, now being 10 years of age and being helped by Haar to mount a young wyvern, her wyvern. She had a lance by her hand, a sharp tooth being its edge. Her father was also there, as well as many of his soldiers as they all wanted to see Jill mounting a wyvern for the first time in her life.<p>

"I'm scared." She confessed, and Haar just laughed out loud. He wore bandages around his face, and back then had troubles getting used to the profundity he couldn't measure because of losing one of his eyes, and so he found it difficult to place Jill on top of her wyvern. "I'm falling!" She yelled but found Haar catching her before she fell, and her father and his men began laughing out loud. "Isn't it safer to start with a horse?"

"Don't be ridiculous! You are Shiharam's daughter, riding a horse is an insult to your heritage." Haar explained, and then helped Jill on top of her Wyvern once again. "Hold the ropes thigh, if you don't, you fall, but don't worry. I will be there to catch you." He instructed, and that forced Jill to want to climb down the wyvern. She did so and she ran to her father's side and then hugged him hard. "Do that again and I will just go to sleep, now get your butt on top of that wyvern."

"I don't want to!" She yelled and buried her face on her father's chest, who just laughed at her. "You say you will catch me if I fall but you always fall asleep! You won't even notice it when I fall because for you it is more important a nap but me!" And Haar for once was hurt by the girl's words, even if back then she didn't mean it the way she reflected it to mean.

"The more reasons for you not to fall you brat." Haar joked. It was his way to recover from the insult of the girl, and everyone laughed at her. Jill just continued rubbing her face while doing negation like movements against her father's chest. "Are you sure she is your daughter?"

"Of course she is, just you wait and see, she will be better than you and me at wyvern ridding." Shiharam added, and then pushed his daughter away gently. "Jill, we have flown my wyvern together a lot of times already. It is no different than those times."

"Of course it is! And why are you allowing Haar to teach me how to fly? He only makes fun of me, and says I'm a brat! And says I'm such a girl all the time!" And Haar then grabbed her from the waist, lifted her, and forced her to her wyvern. "Father!"

"I want Haar to teach you, and you to trust him. Because when I'm gone, Haar will be the one always taking care of you." And Jill blinked twice at such words, and then stared at Haar, who gave the girl a soft smile. A smile she couldn't ignore, a smile she felt like blushing at, and she even did. "Haar, I got your word, don't I? You will always take care of Jill."

"I will as long as she stops waking me up during my nap times, you heard that, brat?" And Jill's blush faded, replaced by annoyance, and she then took the ropes. Being defiant and wanting to prove to Haar that she didn't need him at all. "That's right! Shut me up! Become a woman and do it fast! I won't live forever you know? I'm 17 years older than you so you must grow up fast!" And Jill yelled hard as she asked her wyvern to fly. "I must be crazy! You are right Shiharam… no matter what I feel, she is only a child." Haar admitted while lowering his face.

"And still, you don't like to be apart from her." Shiharam added, and Haar let out an annoying grunting sound as he saw Jill trying to control her wyvern. "Now go and help her, when I'm gone, Jill will be left down your care, so take care of her now and prove to me you are worthy of her. If not, I'm cutting your head off!" Jill could hear her father's words; she wasn't flying that high anyway. She was scared of doing it so, but somehow couldn't understand what they were talking about. "Make me proud, son."

"Don't call me that until I actually take your daughter away from you old man!" Haar yelled back, not as an insult, but as a trust-full reply toward Shiharam. "Damn you brat! Fly higher! A wyvern is as good as a three-legged horse when close to the ground!" And Haar climbed his wyvern and flew after Jill, pushing the small wyvern she rode into going higher into the sky. "Let's finish this fast; I'm starting to fall asleep." He joked, and Jill directed a worry-full stare toward him.

"Don't sleep! I'm scared!" She begged. And Haar faked being snoring for Jill to be freaked out and lose control, which she did and began falling from her wyvern. "Waaaaah!" She yelled with fear, and then found Haar catching her while she fell. "You aren't asleep!" She yelled.

"Of course not! There are some things I love more than sleeping you brat!" Back then, Jill couldn't understand it. Now, close to being 22 years old, Jill couldn't believe she hadn't remembered those memories until now. She now understood why Haar loved to keep his memories alive while sleeping.

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><p>"Things he loves… more than sleeping…" She woke up, probably because of the heat of the night plus the dress she was wearing wasn't at all cool after wearing it for a while. "…He called me a thing…" She concluded, an emotionless stare drawn on her face as she took a sitting position and gave her dream some thoughts. Then, she was looking for some kind of explanation to Haar's words inside of her dream. "Dad wanted Haar to be close to me, so that's why he is always near me and never close enough… he is just following my father's last will… since Haar loved to serve my father more than he loved sleeping, he always admired my dad…" She fooled herself, and then waved her head several times in negation. "Dreams aren't even that close to memories, they are modified as I feel like dreaming them about. Maybe Haar didn't say those things but I wanted to believe he did. I shouldn't be having hopes just because of a damn dream!" And after that last was said, she heard footsteps coming from outside of her door, and then fading away as they walked past her room and toward the ladders, she could tell. Even if Oliver had a fancy looking mansion, the ladders made old cracking-like noises when stepping on top of them.<p>

Jill then stood up from her bed, and began walking around the room silently; she didn't even care enough to place her slippers on, and walked bare foot around the mansion and went downstairs silently. She didn't see Haar or anyone around. It was dark and she didn't feel like taking a candle out. She would be discovered. Instead, she walked following the reflection of the full moon coming from outside through the windows, searching for some kind of candle light which would lead her to the person walking away, which she knew was Haar, or at least she thought it was him.

Upon walking around the mansion, she finally found the light of a candle, and followed it silently until reaching the hall with the black armors. Afterwards, she heard the noisy sound of an armor falling into pieces, and then some swearing which followed the noise.

"Wingless wyverns!" She heard, and only a person she knew would replace a swearing with a wingless wyverns-like insult. Even if it didn't seem so, Haar was polite. He had taken care of her since she was like five years old after all. Swearing was strongly prohibited by Shiharam. "I hate this, just where is my armor? Between all this black I can't find my armor, Jill's one is red at least." And he kept searching around the armors for the place he left his own at. Jill then thought about asking Haar why was it so important for him to find his armor this late at night, but stopped when noticing he had already found his armor between the many black armors.

Instead of picking it up and return to his own room, he just searched all around it for an object tied in rags. "Finally!" He exclaimed, and then sat down with his back against the wall. "If I had lost it, I would never forgive myself." He added, and began untying the rags, revealing a small object, not bigger than the size of a coin. It was rounded and hollow. Against the light of his candle, it shined as gold, as well as with many rainbow like reflects coming out from a diamond on top of the golden ring. "Wow, magic?" Haar wondered, it was the first time he saw the reflection of light through a diamond, one of the reflections even hit Jill's eyes, and she let out a weak sound of surprise. Haar heard, and then hid the ring inside of the rags. "Who is there?" He asked, took an ax away from the glove of a random armor, and then pointed it toward the darkness. "Show yourself before I throw my ax toward your face."

"It's me." Jill added calmly, and Haar just let out a deep breath. "I was just wondering what were you doing awake this late." She then walked toward the light of the candle, and Haar felt his eye opening itself wide when seeing Jill with a dress and her hair free from her ponytail.

"Why are you dressed like a faceless royal brat?" Was his reply and Jill felt her face lowering. Even when she looked so princess-like, Haar just never reflect any positive reaction to her efforts. "Tsk, if you father saw you wearing those clothes, he would say I spoiled you." And then he faced away. Jill found his actions to be curious. She even had a faint hope once again.

"What were you hiding?" She wondered, and Haar never replied. He just began walking past her while pretending to be yawning, but she stopped him. There would be no more jokes, no more escapes. She was going to pull a straight answer from him. "I saw the ring."

"Then why are you asking me what it is? If you know it's a ring, then don't bother asking." He then continued his walk toward his room, but Jill once again pulled his arm, forced him to turn around. She then faced him with her eyes about to break into tears because of Haar's cold nature. "I'm not going to say it."

"My father ordered you to do it, didn't he?" She finally said it. Haar stared at Jill, as the girl lowered her face, and felt like tears falling down from her eyes. "You were always close to me, but never close enough. It was all an order from my father. If he were to die, you would take care of me. That's why you are carrying that damn ring, aren't you? To keep that promise to my father!" She was furious, and her eyes were already drowning her face with tears. "I can't believe this! How could father be so selfish? How could you be so cold as to play with my feelings like that?"

"Oh brother, are you even listening to yourself woman?" Haar yelled back, but Jill didn't feel like hearing any of his excuses and stormed away and toward her room. "I knew it; you are still only a child despite being 21 years old."

"Or maybe I'm not as stupid as I used to be." She yelled back while climbing the stairs, but stopping just to face Haar one last time. "How could father do this to me? He knew I admired you, how could he?"

"Seriously, can you be dense? Shiharam never ordered me to take care of you! It was me who asked him!" And Jill felt no more rage. Instead, she felt confusion. "You think it was easy for me? To realize I wanted a brat to be always by my side? Your father broke my jaw when I told him! He called me things, and even threatened me with ending my life if I were to harm you in any way, I begged him!" And Jill just couldn't believe it. "Honestly, blaming it all on Shiharam, I even taught you how to ride a wyvern, and your father kept making fun of me all the time. You think I was wearing bandages around my face for fun? He punched me right in the eye and opened my wound again; I spent two days on bed after confessing to your father I felt like taking care of you forever, you ungrateful brat!"

"Wait! You liked me since I was ten years old?" And Haar nodded in agreement after biting his lips. "You are sick!" She yelled out, and Haar faced away in annoyance and embarrassment. It was actually the first time she saw Haar being this nervous. "…I don't know what to say…" She admitted. "…At least I never imagined I was going to find it out this way… it's sort of embarrassing…" And Haar could only agree with her with a movement of his head. "You aren't lying, are you?" She asked, and Haar finally stared at her. "This isn't about my father; these are your true feelings, aren't they?" And Haar nodded. "Prove it." She demanded, and Haar bit his lips once again. "I said prove it, damn it! How much longer do I have to wait for you to show me some kind of interest? I'm not a girl anymore!"

"Damn brat!" Haar yelled, but then rudely pulled her into a kiss she wasn't even expecting despite asking for it. Her eyes were wide open. She wasn't even able to close them, as the surprise wouldn't let her. She soon felt a cold object hitting her hand. He searched for her left hand's fingers, and soon felt the ring trapping her ring finger, and she sobbed while still immersed in the kiss. She finally closed her eyes and pushed the kiss back, her dream coming true, after so long of not knowing how to express her feelings toward Haar. It was him the one delivering them to her. Moments later the kiss was broken, and both breathed out heavily. Although it was evident Haar's breathing wasn't product of the lack of air, but because of his annoyance after Jill had forced a confession out of him. "Shiharam was always against it! Even when I was his most loyal warrior, he forced me to spend time with you. He never taught you how to fly a wyvern. He wanted me to prove I loved you. He never trained you with a spear or an ax, he wanted me to show you the ropes, damn! You were under my orders. He wanted me to prove I was worthy of you! And it wasn't until the day before he died when he actually accepted I was worthy. Ever since, I have been carrying that damn ring, always waiting, for when you stopped being a brat and became a true woman."

"I'm 21 years old." She replied to his accusations, and Haar laughed out loud, kind of annoying Jill, but she just couldn't be mad at him anymore. Not after feeling the cold sensation of the ring hitting her skin.

"A brat is a brat, no matter how old you get you are a brat in heart, but I don't feel like waiting any longer. You will be my wife. I will not accept a no as an answer." He demanded, not in an aggressive way, but as if he was asking her to take responsibility for all his suffering for almost 12 years of pursuing a faint hope in having Jill forever by his side.

"…I feel like having a nap… I need some time to think about this…" She added. Haar nodded. "…I want to sleep… and remember this once again… every night, for the rest of my life… so I never forget what happened tonight…" She cried, and Haar faced away in annoyance.

"Don't embarrass me like that, woman. I'm not the romantic type; you will have to deal with it." He added rudely, and then walked past Jill and back to his room, while Jill just stared at him with interest. "Let's go to sleep then, there is always time for a nap." Jill nodded, and followed Haar back to the room's section, a smile forever drawn on her face, being unable to wait for the moment when sleep would drive her away toward the world of dreams, the world of memories, so she would never forget the moment she felt happier than ever in her whole life. The moment Haar finally was weak enough as to confess to her.

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><p><strong>Don't forget to visit my profile page if you want to follow the After Dawn Series from beginning to end.<strong>

**Remember the order of reading changes with each update, make sure you don't miss any chapter.**


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